Life Amid Bullets and Shells
I am Dr. Ahmed Al-Jak, and for the past two years, I have been working as a doctor with Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders). My story began one year before the war, in the malnutrition treatment ward at the Damazine Hospital. When the war began, I found myself in Wad Madani, right in the heart of the conflict.
In the early days, news of the war unfolded, and we saw groups of displaced people making their way from Khartoum to Wad Madani. To provide some medical assistance, Médecins Sans Frontières set up field clinics in the displacement camps.
The exhaustion and weariness were evident on the faces of the displaced people, and we realized that peoples needs extended beyond physical treatment to the need for psychological support as well.
We worked tirelessly in these camps for seven months, treating cases of malnutrition, measles, cholera, and other prevalent diseases, including providing mental health consultations. We were the lifeline for these people until the conflict escalated, and we were forced to evacuate from the camps.
Our mobile clinics were filled with patients every day, with more than two hundred people waiting for us. Despite the intense pressure, we had to triage cases into critical, urgent, or less severe, so we could transfer critical cases to the hospital while treating less severe cases on-site.
The biggest challenge we face today is the scarcity of medical supplies; our surgical equipment has run out, and we are on the verge of suspending all activities unless medical supplies arrive.
Amidst all this, and after evacuating my family to Sinnar, at personal risk, I decided to continue and stay to provide assistance to others, despite the ongoing gunfire and the danger of the situation around me. The decision to stay was an internal struggle, but I trusted in God and decided to persevere.
Life was normal before the war. I would go to the hospital, help the patients, and then return to my family. But now, my city is destroyed, my family has left, and the feeling of fear is pervasive.
I hold onto a glimmer of hope in these dark times. I look forward to the day when the war stops, peace prevails, and we can work on rebuilding and developing our country without the threat of forced displacement.
Speak Out Sudan
Médecins Sans Frontières Page - Stories from Sudan
